New Jersey’s casino and racetrack industries, fighting each other for the gambling dollar, stand to benefit or lose together due to the state’s overall competition for gambling dollars with neighboring states. That’s the conclusion of a recently released white paper examining these industries from 2009 through 2014. The report recommends a “partnership between the casino and horse racing industries to enable both to remain sustainable, as competition for gambling dollars continues to escalate.”… The “2014 State of the New Jersey Horse Racing Industry: Post Report of the Governor’s Advisory Commission on New Jersey Gaming, Sports and Entertainment,” written by Dr. Karyn Malinowski, director of the Rutgers Equine Science Center and Dr. Paul Gottlieb, chair of Rutger’s Department of Agricultural, Food and Resource Economics, paints a dire picture of the state’s racing and breeding industry, but notes that Atlantic City’s casinos are also suffering… Horse owners not involved in racing shouldn’t assume the industry’s woes won’t affect them. Malinowski warns that sport competition and recreational horse users stand to suffer, as will traditional agricultural interests such as grain, hay, and straw farmers who continue to survive and maintain open space due to the fact that their major customers are horse owners.

The calendar will formally read November next week, but it might feel more like late-September. A massive ridge of high pressure is expected to build over the eastern half of the United States next week, potentially pushing temperatures to the low-to-mid 70s for several days — near record levels for this time of year… By the end of next week, temperatures could be topping out in the low-to-mid 70s, between 15 and 20 degrees above average for this time of year… “Near record temperatures may break out,” said David Robinson, the state climatologist at Rutgers University. “Generally speaking, record high temperatures are hovering in the mid 70s during that time period.”

Through team efforts, a new garden will soon be created in town to provide educational opportunities for students and environment-friendly storm draining… This rain garden, which will be located outside Pilesgrove’s municipal building, will work to safely capture and effectively drain water to prevent pollution and flooding, state officials said… “We are laying out this rain garden and the idea is where we are standing, a week from now, there is going to be a beautiful garden and man storm water run-off,” Chris Obropta, Rutgers Cooperative Extension Specialist in Water Resources, said… The 20-to-30-foot garden is made possible through a collaboration between Rutgers Cooperative Extension, New Jersey Environmental Commission (AMJEC), and Pilesgrove Township.

The Rutgers University Master Gardener Program, a volunteer organization of the New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station, annually recognizes the outstanding work accomplished by members of each county organization by presenting Awards for Excellence…

It’s a natural display that would make the father of electricity proud… A group of trained volunteers from the Rutgers Master Gardeners of Essex County says it has been restoring the flowerbeds at the Glenmont Estate, the former home of inventor Thomas Edison, since 2009. Once robust, the gardens on the 15.7-acre grounds of the estate, located in the gated Llewellyn Park section of West Orange, had fallen flat by the 2000s, the group said… “There really wasn’t much there beforehand,” Pat Hewitt, the president of the Rutgers Master Gardeners of Essex County, said of the estate’s landscaping. “The gardens had lapsed into just a grassy area.”… For their work, the group recently received the “Award of Excellence” from the statewide Rutgers Master Gardeners Association of New Jersey, which trains volunteers throughout the state to engage in local horticultural projects.

In a way, it’s how we got into this in the first place. A nor’easter dumped as much as six inches of rain across New Jersey last weekend, seemingly the answer to New Jersey’s burgeoning drought woes… “This rain was not a drought-buster,” said David Robinson, the state climatologist at Rutgers University… Robinson, who contributes to U.S. Drought Monitor discussions for the region, said New Jersey is certainly in better shape with last week’s rains than without, but that it wouldn’t take much to change that… Long-term forecasts from the National Weather Service don’t scream for a major pattern shift that would bring the Garden State more significant rains. While some rain is expected Friday, forecasters say it is not likely to amount to more than half an inch and, currently, is the only rain in the forecast over the next seven days.

Raritan Valley Community College, in partnership with the Rotary Club of Branchburg, broke ground on an Enabling Garden on Oct. 1 at the college’s Branchburg Campus… The Enabling Garden is one of several such gardens in Central New Jersey created as part of a partnership between Rotary International District 7510 (Central New Jersey) and Rutgers University and its entities, New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station and Cooperative Extension… Launched in 2011, the “Rotary and Rutgers: Growing Lives One Seed at a Time” initiative features barrier-free, accessible gardens, and/or activities, provided with modifications to be enjoyed by people with disabilities… Planning of the garden has taken place over the past eight months with input from The Enabling Garden Committee representatives from The Rotary Club of Branchburg, the college’s student Rotaract club, college faculty, and Rutgers University Department of Landscape Architecture by way of Design Workshops. The garden is expected to be completed in the spring.

Homeowners surveying their properties in advance of what may be a catastrophic storm next week are too late to take down trees that might not fare well in the potential surge of strong winds, experts say. However, thanks to Hurricane Sandy, there may not be as much tree trimming necessary in the Garden State… “I hate to say that it helped anything, but Sandy did help to clear out perhaps the most dangerous trees,” David Robinson, the state climatologist at Rutgers University, said in a phone interview Wednesday about the impending Hurricane Joaquin… Tree experts said that because of the time that has passed since the superstorm, trees that did not come down have likely recovered from any damage they may have sustained during Sandy… But, Robinson said, surveying the property to take note of where the trees are located, could be helpful before an emergency situation. “Remind yourself where the trees are relative to the rooms in your house” when deciding where to bunker down during a severe storm, he said.

New Jersey got some good news this evening at the expense of its southern neighbors. The National Hurricane Center pushed the projected track of Hurricane Joaquin farther west Wednesday afternoon, as models trended toward a landfall in the Chesapeake Bay area throughout the course of the day… “There’s no question this run is better for us,” said David Robinson, the state climatologist at Rutgers University. “But we’ve got some stuff to worry about before then.”… A high wind watch and a coastal flood watch were posted for the entire New Jersey coastline from Friday to Saturday, as storm front retrogrades back across the Garden State… After the weekend, things become somewhat murky again. “While there has been a clear shift in forecast models toward the south and west regarding Hurricane Joaquin’s path, the National Hurricane Center cautioned that confidence in the forecast remains low.”